Google expands GWT team, plans new release

Summary:The Google Web Toolkit (GWT) team is readying a new version of the hybrid Ajax/Java framework for early August. This release will include fixes for bugs on the issues list, plus several new enhancements. In addition, Google has added another full time person to the development team. The added staff, plus release announcements, should put to rest any doubts about Google's commitment to the project.

Google Web Toolkit (GWT) tech lead Bruce Johnson has announced that his team is readying a new version of the popular hybrid Ajax/Java framework for early August. This release will include fixes for bugs on the issues list, plus enhancements like:

Support for localizing strings and formatted messages

An XML library based on the W3C DOM

Faster, supported classes for JSON

A File Upload widget

A Form Panel widget to let you submit traditional HTML forms from GWT apps

Faster RPC, with a more compact wire format

Faster JUnit tests, and testing for RPCs and timers

According to Bruce, the team has been gearing up to deliver more frequent releases in the future. "One of the goals of the 'housekeeping' work we've been doing," he writes, "is to be able to more quickly provide bugfix builds even while new features are still in progress." This will be good news to GWT developers who watched the first bugfix build come out one week after the initial release, but waited several weeks for the next one. Bruce says they've switched to Maven for building GWT, and have plans for an interactive issue tracker (anybody over there heard of bugzilla?).

In other news, Google is increasing the size of the GWT team. The newest member, Vivian Li, will be actively participating in the Google Web Toolkit forum among other duties. GWT Engineer Scott Blum writes: "You may have noticed this group has been growing pretty quickly-- quicker than we've been able to keep up with lately-- so we're really excited to have her help." The added staff, plus release announcements, should put to rest any doubts about Google's commitment to the project.

Ed Burnette has been hooked on computers ever since he laid eyes on a TRS-80 in the local Radio Shack. Since graduating from NC State University he has programmed everything from serial device drivers and debuggers to web servers. After a delightful break working on commercial video games, Ed reluctantly returned to business software. He...
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